NEW HAVEN -- Staples senior Henry Wynne and Hillhouse senior Precious Holmes met for the first time on a rainy March afternoon inside the Floyd Little Athletic Center.

A few courtesy exchanges took place before they found common ground.

"I was cheering for you," Holmes said. "Somebody asked me if I knew you, and I said no."

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Wynne gave a laugh.

Holmes was referring to March 10, when the two ran at the historic Armory Track and Field Center in New York at the New Balance High School Indoor Nationals.

Each won a pair of national titles; Wynne in the mile and as the anchor of the distance medley relay, Holmes in the 400 and as the third leg of the 1,600 sprint medley relay.

(Image contains multiple links for video and photos of Holmes and Wynne, move around photo to access)

Between the two they own 50 records, from school to State Open, in both indoor and outdoor season. Holmes is the No. 1 400-meter high school runner in the nation. Wynne is tops in the 1,000, 1,600 and mile and part of the No. 1 distance medley relay, according to milsplit.com.

In just a few years they have left an unprecedented mark on the sport, on both a state and national level.

"The last couple years, the track talent, it just keeps getting better and better," said Tolland coach Corey Bernier, who is on the CIAC Indoor Track Committee. "(Holmes and Wynne) are the next great set that we've had."

MEANT TO RUN

Holmes grew up running with her brother's football team. Wynne was playing lacrosse before he put on a pair of spikes. But it wasn't long before the track became their sanctuary.

"I started running my freshman year because my lacrosse coach told me I had to lift or run," Wynne said with a smile.

Hillhouse's Gary Moore has been coaching at Hillhouse since 1995. He said when he first laid eyes on Holmes, he knew there was something special.

"I remember when I first saw her run in eighth grade. I said, 'Wow, that girl, I could really do something with her if we ever got her,'" Moore said.

He was right. Through the years as an Academic, Holmes has improved in her time, form and overall race strategy. Her epiphany came as a sophomore in 2011 when she claimed a State Open outdoor record in the 400 (53.16 seconds).

"I figured that out my sophomore year when I first ran a 53 and I had a state record, and I was like, 'Maybe I could just get a scholarship for this,'" Holmes said.

Just like Moore, Staples coach Laddie Lawrence knew Wynne had a budding future as a runner.

"When he was a freshman he ran cross country, and he's the only freshman that made varsity. I knew he was going to be good. I didn't know how good," said Lawrence, who has been the track coach at Staples for 44 years. "In his sophomore year he ran indoor and he made a big breakthrough in his training and performance level and I knew I had somebody special."

Wynne figured out early on he was talented.

"Freshman year I was alright," Wynne said. "Sophomore (year) I ran a 1:55 in the 800 (and) I realized I could probably be pretty good."

Since then, the duo has been the poster children for Connecticut track and field.

"The great thing about this sport is what you put in you're going to get out," Moore said. "It's just the nature of the sport."

THE WILL TO WIN

On March 8, when Wynne was coming around the corner on the Armory track in dead last in the distance medley relay, Lawrence knew something amazing was about to happen.

"He gets the baton in eighth place and he comes around and slowly starts to pick things up and we're in the sixth position," Lawrence said. "And I'm looking down from the bleachers and I could see his face. When he's coming off the turn and he's passing all these other guys, he's just not going to place, he's looking ahead. I could see it in his eyes, I'm thinking, 'Oh my God, he thinks he can win.' And then he did."

That moment turned into Wynne's favorite track memory. Wynne, along with Peter Elkind, Jack Scott and Walker Marsh, won the New Balance Indoor DMR in a time of 10:07.01, which set a state record.

Moore had a similar moment this season with Holmes. It was at the New England Indoor Championships on March 3. After winning the 300 title, Holmes ran the final two laps of the 4x400 in a time of 54.7 seconds, guiding teammates Jayvona McDaniel, Gabrielle Curtis and Nia Ruth from the back of the pack to a near-first-place finish. Holmes and Hillhouse took second (3:56.32).

"(After that race) I said, 'You're ready for nationals,'" Moore said. "'For you to run that fast, not being pushed, you had to self-motivate yourself and go out there and get after that girl who was so far in front of you. You just kept pushing and pushing, you're strong enough ... that race told me that you're ready to go.'"

There have been many more times the two have impressed others with their passion, desire and motivation to keep going. Every time they step foot on the track, there is a good chance they will cross the finish line first.

Holmes has guided Hillhouse to five class team titles and two Open titles. Wynne has played a part in three class championships and two Open titles for Staples.

"I feel like I have a lot of heart," Holmes said. "I wouldn't give up a race that easily. I don't care how much I'm hurting or anything, I would just push through anything."

Said Wynne: "I think like Precious, I just don't like to lose."

Lawrence said what separates Wynne and Holmes from everyone else comes from within.

"The major difference is in here," said Lawrence, pointing to his heart.

A HEAD GAME

Both Lawrence and Moore said a lot of what the sport boils down to is the mental side. How the athletes handle themselves and prepare for a strenuous race and the inevitable pain.

Holmes said through the years she's learned to clear her mind in a sense.

"It is pretty hard. I finally learned to not think so much and just do," she said.

The last time Wynne lost an individual race was in June 2012, at the New Balance Outdoor Nationals in North Carolina. He finished in second place in the mile (4:11.59). Since then he has complied an undefeated cross country and indoor track season for himself and was the State Gatorade Cross Country Runner of the Year this past fall.

Lawrence credits Wynne's success to the senior's studious nature.

"He's a real student of the sport," Lawrence said. "He knows himself, he knows the training, he knows what he needs and he knows his competitors."

BETTER THAN THE REST

"You assume kids like that are just working hard all the time," Bernier said. "I'm sure they're doing the little things. You don't get good like that by just showing up."

Holmes and Wynne both said they don't train any differently than their teammates. There is no special formula that catapulted them to the national stage. What has been their blueprint to success is working with what they have been blessed with.

"I don't train any different, I practice every single day, like everybody," Holmes said. "I do track practice with the boys for somebody to push me."

While the 5-foot-4 Holmes is built like a runner and has a natural speed to blaze by opponents in the snap of a finger, it comes down to how she has honed her ability to the highest level.

"She's always been pretty tough, solid and hard-working. You don't always find that with some of the kids who are most talented," Moore said.

While Holmes owns 31 records (seven Class M and MM titles) and has earned five All-American titles, she is still learning and striving for more.

"Beat them to the break line. I actually just learned that," she said. "My strategy has changed throughout the years."

Wynne stands at 6 feet 3, tall, lean and has long strides. His signature move is his kick at the end. Similar to Holmes, he's still new to the sport, still learning and crafting his art.

"All the good ones have that extra gift," Lawrence said. "They all train the same ... Henry does and can train harder. He has a much more developed recovery, he recovers faster."

From an outsider's perspective, watching the two at the national stage, one's eye has seen the raw talent.

"Wynne sort of reminds me of the FitzSimons kid (Chris, of Hamden) who was just a tremendous, tremendous runner with great patience. And if he was close at the end of a race, he knew he was going to get you," said Paul Limmer, Director of Special Events at the National Scholastics Athletic Foundation.

"And the Wynne kid is very much FitzSimons. He shows tremendous patience and always has something left at the end of a race."

Limmer added about Holmes: "She's been at our meets every single year, and she's gotten better every single year."

It also helps that Holmes and Wynne belong to two of the strongest track programs in the state. Hillhouse and Staples, both rich in tradition, also house indoor tracks for their athletes to train on.

"Both at Staples and at Hillhouse, those programs have traditionally been strong throughout history and what we're doing and what they're doing," Lawrence said. "If the talent comes into the program, it gets developed to the maximum."

Lawrence said having two national champs in two events is a rare occurrence for the state.

"I think it's unusual that we had a boy and a girl in the state both win an individual title and then also win a relay title," he said. "There have been other kids in Connecticut to win national titles, but to have two different genders winning two national championships at the same time, I think is kind of unique."

THE TOTAL PACKAGE

This past indoor season it was hard not to find someone in the crowd murmuring Holmes' or Wynne's name when they prepared to run. Celebrities at a track meet, the two attract a lot of attention. People expect them to win and perform well.

As they prepare to finish off their high school track season with outdoors starting this week, they are aware all eyes are on them.

"It just makes me see that people are actually looking up to me and it makes me just want to do something amazing out there," Holmes said.

"I think it's pretty cool that there are kids out there that want to be doing the same thing," Wynne said. "I use that as motivation."

Holmes, who is taking some time off (about a month) to nurse an achilles injury, is hoping to reach 52 seconds in the 400 this spring. Her personal record in the event is 52.67, which she ran in the Glenn D. Loucks Games last May.

Wynne has a few outdoor records he wants to add to his resumé while in pursuit of the 4-minute mile.

Next year the two will be running in different states; Wynne at the University of Virginia and Holmes at South Carolina. Both coaches agreed that better days are ahead for their star runners. But for now, the two are hoping to savor their last moments on the high school track.

"That's how you want to go out," Moore said. "You want to go out your senior year the best. Not everybody can do it."